Alleged scandal rocks Poker Night in America

A shocking, and somewhat hard to believe story was posted by Dr. Jaclynn Moskow on her personal blog today.

According to Moskow, she was sexually assaulted and suffered through repeated instances of anti-Semitism. In all, Moskow cited as many as six people that had behaved somewhere between poorly and criminally towards her during her appearance on Poker Night in America in 2014, particularly singling out Nolan Dalla, who has refuted her accusations.

The blog post has touched off a firestorm. I wasn’t present, so I have no way of knowing what actually occurred. But here are some responses from people who were there.

That said, I do know a couple of the principles quite well (Nolan Dalla and Chris Capra), and I was also on the show at one point, so I do have some insights.

I’ve known Nolan Dalla online for several years and we’ve interacted many, many times, publicly and privately. Furthermore, we’ve run into each other in real life a number of times over the past few years – at gaming conferences and at Poker Night in America – and I’ve had the chance to speak with Nolan at length one-on-one and in groups.

I can say, he’s been nothing but friendly and professional every single time. What’s being said about him seems extremely out of character to me.

But what I really want to discuss is the structure of PNiA, and why Moskow may have been upset at what she perceived to be unfair treatment by the show.

First, PNiA isn’t a typical cash game where once you sit you keep your seat, it’s a TV show and they have to make decisions on what’s good for the game and the broadcast.

I don’t know what was relayed to the table when Moskow played in Pittsburgh, but when I was on the show it was made CRYSTAL CLEAR to everyone at the table that after the dinner break (halfway through the eight-hour session) three seats would be changed and if it didn’t happen naturally, the show would decide who was 86’ed.

It was also made clear that being gregarious, and active was encouraged. Playing slow, tight, and/or being quiet wasn’t outlawed, but it was clear that it was frowned upon and would cost you your seat. Because of this, if you are a poker player and can’t afford to light $10k on fire to promote yourself, PNiA really isn’t for you.

This is precisely what happened. At the break they asked if anyone wanted to give up their seats, and then the show decided who would stay and who would go – incidentally, I wasn’t booted, I gave up my seat.

Quick Hitters

– Phil Hellmuth recently made a stunning, and out of character admission on social media, when the historically notorious name-dropper and boaster tweeted out that he lost $140,000 in his home game. Hellmuth called it, “the worst night he’s ever had.”

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